Rising Sea Level Effects

We
can only live on 30% of our planet

We
can only live on 30% of our planet

We might have the impression that we own
the planet, but in reality, we can live only on 30% of it. That’s the total
land mass of the Earth. We need dry land to thrive and plant our crops for food.
This is the same for all land dwelling animals. Our survival is threatened when
scientists predict that sea levels will rise if the global temperatures
continue to rise due to global warming. The rising sea level effects can become
a danger to our civilization.

What
can cause sea levels to rise?

There are 2 factors that can cause sea
levels to rise and both of them are relate to ur increasing global temperature.

Thermal Expansion – when the water gets
warmer and it expands and occupies more space. The last half century’s sea level rise was
caused by the warming of the oceans.

Additional Water Input – If you remember
the story of the Flood, the world was fully covered by water when it rained for
40 days and 40 nights – killing every human being and land animal except for
those in the Ark. But the threat now is more subtle and it’s currently being
observed. The polar ice caps and ice sheets are melting due to the warmer
temperature. When this huge amount of ice melts, it will significantly add to
the Global Mean Sea Level (GMSL). If all the ice in the South Pole melted, sea
levels can rise by 200 feet! If the Greenland Ice Sheet melts, the sea will
rise by 20 feet.

The rate of the rise of our global
temperature is accelerating and 80% of the heat is being absorbed by our
oceans. The land ice is shrinking at a faster rate in response to this – and it
is pouring more water into our oceans.

Can
we breathe under water?

What are the rising sea level effects if we
cannot stop global warming? Scientists say that even if we are able to reduce
carbon emissions to zero by the year 2016, we can still expect a rise in sea
levels by 1.2 to 2.6 feet. The oceans and land will readjust to the changes we
already made to the atmosphere.

How will the rising of the sea levels
affect us?

With a one meter rise, some
island nations like the Maldives will be submerged. If the global warming trend
continues, even New York, Bangkok, London, Mumbai and Shanghai will end up
below sea level.

The rising of the oceans will
contaminate surface and underground fresh water supplies which will worsen the
world’s fresh water problems.

Crops and animals will die,
causing a food shortage.

100 million people in the US
alone, lives in coastal cities. They will be completely displaced, along with
other cities in low lying coasts dependent on rising seas and storm surges.

Coastal wetlands like the
Everglades, which are home to a large and diverse ecosystem, will be damaged by
the salt water. Whole habitats will disappear, along with the animals that live
in it.

Higher sea levels will mean
that the storms that will make landfall will be bigger and more powerful –
therefore, more devastating.

Economies will fall when
industries grind to a halt and governments spend billions of their currency
trying to sustain their citizens and rebuild their infrastructure.

We do not have the technology yet to hold
back the ocean and it seems inevitable that the seas will rise. But that
doesn’t mean that we will just stare at it and let it happen. How high it will
rise is still dependent on our actions today!

We need to act with haste and urgency. If
we all work together and increase people’s awareness, we can still reduce
carbon emissions which are causing the global temperatures to rise, the ocean
waters to expand and the ice caps to melt.
We can still help avoid a global catastrophe.

If you remember the hole in the ozone
layer, the collective efforts of our governments was able to fix that
problem. So it is not true that we are
powerless. Collectively, we can make significant positive changes!